Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu (7 October 1931-) was the Archbishop of Cape Town from 7 September 1986 to 1996, succeeding Philip Russell and preceding Njongonkulu Ndungane. He was a prominent South African anti-apartheid activist, and he was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.

Biography
Desmond Tutu was born in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa in 1931 of mixed Xhosa and Tswana descent, and he wa sordained an Anglican priest in 1961. He went to Britain for further studies in 1962, receiving a Master's degree in theology from King's College, London in 1966. On his return, he became a lecturer in the seminaries in the Cape and then in Lesotho. He left for Britain again to become Associate Director of the World Council of Churches from 1972 to 1975. His subsequent appointment as Dean of Johannesburg in 1975 was so offensive to many White Anglicans in South Africa that he was removed, becoming Bishop of Lesotho in 1976. As secretary-general to the South African Council of Churches from 1978 to 1985, he used his position to become the most outspoken opponent of the apartheid regime during the 1980s. He was confirmed in this role through the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

He became Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985, and in 1986 he became the first black to be elected to the highest Anglican see in the country, the Archbishopric of Cape Town. Always demanding the release of Nelson Mandela, he effortlessly changed his role from arch-critic to arch-conscience of the nation after Mandela's release in 1990, without fear of even occasionally criticizing Mandela himself. Perhaps hte only South African, second to Mandela, to enjoy the near-universal confidence of all sections of the population, he was appointed head of the Truth Commission set up in 1995 to investigate human rights violations committed since the Sharpeville massacre of 1960.